Here are a couple interesting wine dinners in Raleigh on Monday:

• Raleigh's Sitti restaurant is hosting a four-course traditional Lebanese family dinner with wine pairings at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
  Chateau Musar winery co-owner Mark Hochar will be at the dinner. Chateau Musar is a family-owned winery just over the mountains from Beirut in the Bekaa Valley. The dinner costs $75 per person. For a reservation, call 919-239-4070.
  The restaurant is at 137 S. Wilmington St. Information: sitti-raleigh.com
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• Also on Monday night, Raleigh's Poole's dinner is offering a five-course dinner featuring wines from the Matteo Correggia winery in Italy.
  Sara Palma, the winery's export manager, will be on hand at the dinner, which starts at 7 p.m. Matteo Correggia is a family-owned winery in Italy's Roero hills and known for its Nebbiolo, Barbera and Arneis wines. The wines will be available for retail purchase during the event.
  For reservations, call 919-832-4477. The restaurant is at 426 S McDowell St. Information: poolesdowntowndiner.com.

Go HERE to read the story from business reporter David Bracken about the Empire Eats owner's latest projects.

Empire Eats owns The Raleigh Times, Sitti, Gravy and The Pit in downtown Raleigh.

Several Triangle restaurants are among the finalists named in the annual Best Dish in North Carolina contest.

The contest, sponsored by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Our State magazine, recognizes the use of North Carolina products at casual and fine dining restaurants. Judges choose first, second and third place winners in two categories, fine dining and casual dining, in two regions across the state, east and west.

The restaurants serve a special dish or series of courses highlighting North Carolina ingredients for a month this summer. Anonymous judges travel the state tasting the dishes. Winners will be announced in November.

In the East region, which covers Chatham County to the coast, the finalists include:
In the casual dining contest, Rhett's Restaurant in Southern Pines, Market Restaurant in Raleigh, Sitti in Raleigh, Angelina's Kitchen in Pittsboro, Bull Street Gourmet & Market in Durham and Gravy in Raleigh.

In the fine dining contest, Catch in Wilmington, Bald Head Island Club in Bald Head Island and Tonali in Durham.

For more information about the contest, go to www.bestdishnc.com.

The Raleigh Downtown Farmers Market opens its season next Wednesday (April 25) with a pig pickin', live music and children's activities.

The market operates in City Plaza on Fayetteville Street from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesdays until the end of October. Next Wednesday's festivities include $5 barbecue sandwiches from The Pit restaurant with Southern food expert Bob Garner on hand to talk to customers; a performance by Big Head Dog band, whose members include local organic farmer Fred Miller of Hilltop Farms; and face painting and gardening activities for children.

Customers can visit the market's Facebook page to enter to win a $50 gift certificate to the Pit restaurant for themselves and a $50 gift certificate to Sitti restaurant for a friend. Or customers can enter to win gift certificates at the market's information booth on opening day.

For more information about the market, go to www.RaleighEatLocal.com.

If you dine at Raleigh's Sitti restaurant from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, ten percent of the evening's proceeds will be donated InterAct.

InterAct is a Wake County nonprofit that helps families struggling with domestic abuse.

Eat or drink at any of the six Empire Eats restaurants in downtown Rlaeigh(Raleigh Times, Morning Times, The Pit, Duck & Dumpling, Gravy and Sitti) today (Monday, July 19) and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to N.C. Theater.

The theater company is the region's non-profit producer of Broadway musicals.